$4.4M health grant to help Union Hill improve lifestyles

Angelo Rivera, 11, left, plays one-on-one basketball in Worcester with his friend, Edgardo Gonzalez, 12. A new research project will help implement ways to boost healthy eating and increased physical activity for Union Hill families.

WORCESTER — About 15 people were at Morse Field, next to the old St. Vincent's Hospital off Winthrop Street, on Monday afternoon. Teenagers played soccer; a woman walked her dog around the track; a man pushed a child in a toy car.

The field is one of only a few public spaces for residents of the Union Hill neighborhood, an area that has seen an increase in violence and poverty and has been the focus of revitalization efforts by many community groups.

Now the area will be the focus of research and programming conducted by the University of Massachusetts Medical School's Worcester Prevention Research Center and affiliates through a $4.4 million federal grant. The goal is to find, implement and analyze effective ways to boost healthy eating and increased physical activity for local families.

"Union Hill is one of these neighborhoods that are on the verge and it could go either way," said Judi Kirk, director of community impact for the Boys and Girls Club and YouthConnect Worcester. Her organization has been working with the research center since it began looking at the area about five years ago.

She said a major issue in the neighborhood is that while programs as after-school activities are available to children, it is difficult to get them to attend.

"Kids are not able to get access to after-school activities because parents, once the kids come home, do not let those kids outside again," Ms. Kirk said. "I rarely see kids in my neighborhood because it's not safe."

The Oak Hill Community Development Corp. found that 36 percent of respondents in a survey last year felt unsafe in parks or other outdoor recreational areas, and 35 percent said that it was unsafe for children to walk to and from school in the neighborhood. Police have boosted presence in the area, adding foot patrols but crime continues to be a problem.

There are several organizations already trying to provide services and improve life for the neighborhood, including Girls Inc. of Worcester and Friendly House, which have been working together for some time, Ms. Kirk said.

"There are so many things going on in the neighborhood, it is hard to identify what things are working," she said.

Therefore, research center staff will be working with those groups and using its funding to measure the impact of different programs and identifying best practises for addressing the problems.

Stephenie Lemon, co-director of the research center, said that most grants of this nature do not provide funding for researchers to provide services, such as training for community partners.

"The goal is to do something ultimately that the community can own," she said.

The research center will bring in members of the community to help conduct further surveys, recruit participants and to run programs, which have yet to be identified, Ms. Lemon said.

"Although research can happen in an academic setting it really needs to happen in a community setting," said Derek S. Brindisi, the regional health director.

The grant and its subsequent programming will play a role in the city's Community Health Action Plan, which is being led by the Department of Public Health and aims to make the Worcester area the healthiest in New England in the next six years.

"Often the question we get is, 'In 2020 how are you going to make that claim?' " Mr. Brindisi said, "How we answer that question is (with the help of) the people at the Prevention Resource Center."

It is not as simple as measuring body mass index rates, he said, and the center has played a key role in identifying specific goals and figuring out how and when they should be measured.

For the Union Hill neighborhood, the major problem identified by an independent study last year was a lack of social cohesion.

"People come to and from work, stay in their homes, don't engage in their neighborhood. They're not being physically active ... it affects their health status. They feel disconnected from each other," he said. "There are some serious issues up there. We know it's not going to happen overnight but we can't continue to ignore it either."

Marie Morse, principal of Union Hill School on Chapin Street, said Monday that she believes that a public center for community health and wellness, such as a YMCA, would be a good start. She added that the community needs more easily accessible medical and dental care, a public library branch, a nearby bank and more access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

"It's a neighborhood with a lot of potential," she said.

Contact Alli Knothe at allison.knothe@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @KnotheA